It has come to my attention that none of my server-side apps nor my blog can establish a database connection between around 4:30AM until 6:30AM. At least this has been a problem for the past several days.
After repeated calls and an online chat, MediaTemple is aware of this issue and says they are “working to address it.” They have been unable to give me an accurate reason for the problem, first claiming it was a an issue with my plugins folder (such things usually are but this wasn’t), then saying it was a hard drive failure on their server which had been replaced and assuring me I would have no further problems, then saying it was someone doing something on the server that was overwhelming it during that time (but I pay extra for a special account plan to prevent that). This morning the first guy said he escalated my request (instead of fixing the issue). He called back later and said the engineers had fixed the problem 30 minutes earlier but didn’t tell him what was wrong when I asked. This was not factual. It had been working intermittently for only 10 minutes. And why can he not tell me what was wrong? Was he just waiting for it to start working again on its own as it has for the past several days around 6:00AM?
So, it seems they don’t know or are not taking it seriously enough to resolve it. MediaTemple’s tech support was, at one time, really superb. The people you talked to knew stuff. Calling them resolved issues on the spot. They were awesome about going out of their real scope of support to help you. Maybe we have to pay extra for that level of support now? (They have a priority support line of some sort for yet another monthly fee.)
I doubt MediaTemple is the most expensive hosting service out there, but they are certainly not the least expensive either. This shakes my trust in them, and trust is what matters most to this customer. I feel like I pay more than average, and for that I want reliable service and excellent support when a rare problem occurs.
I’m hopeful the issue can be resolved before I head out on the road in a couple of days.
In the mean time, if you are pleased with your hosting service: the reliability, responsiveness of the server as well as knowledge and support of the tech group when there is an issue, shoot me an email. I may need a back up plan. This is just not acceptable.